The National Research Council Canada (NRC) and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) have developed modelling and simulation tools intended to de-risk, increase efficiency and standardize Ship Helicopter Operating Limitations (SHOL) testing through the use of modelling and simulation. The Integrated Reality In-Flight Simulation (IRIS) tool is a novel simulator platform where an evaluation pilot (EP) flies a variable stability aircraft while wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset with many elements of the shipboard environment carefully reproduced including the injection of real time turbulence models established from wind tunnel trials. The turbulence and other environmental effects on the aircraft motion are coupled directly into the aircraft in real time, thereby retaining accurate critical proprioceptive and vestibular cueing for the pilot. NRC has recently completed flight test evaluations of the prototype concept. Pilot comments from initial testing indicated that the system required little adaptation, presented no noticeable lag, no attributable propensity to cause motion sickness, and that the turbulence felt realistic.The testing indicated that typical VR deficiencies such as resolution and field of view are not as impactful during close-in shipboard operations, making this application very effective.